Social inclusion in Cuba

Cuban society continuously promotes unity amongst its own people, but also solidarity with other peoples, as we saw at the May Day rally in Havana which encompassed people of all ages, colour and creed. In the same way the many grassroots organisations in Cuba try to get everyone united and involved in running their own society.

In particular, over the last 18 months, the Cubans have sent out social workers, working in collaboration with the mass organisations, to every family to ensure the benefits of the revolution are equally distributed and that the voice of its people is heard. The Cubans have identified that a small portion of its population is not accessing what is available to the majority. This small percentage (1-5%) may well be disabled, unidentified in their needs or even social delinquents. The aim of the revolution is to empower every individual so that they can be responsible citizens of Cuban society, including former convicts. Unlike the British 'justice' system, the Cuban authorities don't believe that stigmatising ex-convicts is a form of rehabilitation.

I wondered how much of a problem racism was within Cuba, both within organisations and generally in the streets. While walking around Havana and Guantanamo on my own I found that I received none of the peculiar looks that I often get in 'multi-cultural' Britain. But also, when visiting old people's homes and the chocolate factory or when meeting with the UJC, I saw that, compared to Britain, many more of the workers in responsible positions are black.

At the passport checkpoint I deliberately walked ahead of my comrades at Gatwick to see whether it was true that non-whites are more likely to be 'randomly' checked. Sure enough the officers at the airport questioned me about my travels. They also questioned another comrade with an Arabic-sounding name. This charade didn't happen in Cuba. This made me realise how set institutionalised racism is in the imperialist countries

While this does not mean racism does not exist in Cuba, the Cubans are confident that through education and the widest possible inclusion, these problems will gradually have less bearing on society.

Mohammad Hussain

From Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 173 June/July 2003

Rock around the Blockade round-up

In April members and supporters of the Revolutionary Communist Group and Rock around the Blockade spent two weeks on a solidarity brigade in Cuba. After two days in Havana the brigade travelled across Cuba to the easternmost province of Guantanamo before returning to the capital.

We visited primary schools, the international schools of medicine and sports, the school for social workers, a Pioneers' Palace, clinics, an orphanage, a nursery, an old peoples' home, a chocolate factory that was first opened by Che Guevara and organisations for arts and music. On the streets and in local organisations we talked to students, young people, children, journalists, religious believers and workers; we held discussions with members of local Committees for the Defence of the Revolution (CDRs), the women's federation (FMC), the Cuban Communist Party and Union of Young Communists (UJC), who hosted the brigade.

In Guantanamo it was rewarding to see the mobile sound system donated by a previous RATB brigade still being used by the UJC up to two or three times a day to take music and politics out to every corner of the province.We had spent many months fundraising in Britain to be ensure the Guantanamo UJC could pay for repairs and spare parts and keep the van on the road. We also visited the area overlooking the notorious US naval base where prisoners are still being held without trial in Camps X-Ray and Delta.

Back in Havana the brigade took part in the May Day celebrations in Revolution Square and joined over a million Cubans and other revolutionaries from around the world in singing the Intemationale. We were delighted to be able to spend our final evening with Reinaldo Mancebo and his family, long-time friends of the RCG and Rock around the Blockade. Comrade Mancebo had recently returned from Baghdad, where he and other members of the Cuban diplomatic mission had remained during the bombing.

The brigade has come back full of enthusiasm about Cuba's remarkable social programmes and with a deeper understanding of the imminent threat Cuba faces from the US and the recent steps it has taken to defend itself. Our task now is to ensure that we channel that enthusiasm into our own Battle for Ideas by using the example of Cuba to win people in Britain to the ideas of socialism - in contrast to the grim barbarity imposed on the planet by imperialism. Join us - take the battle for socialism out onto the streets of Britain!

From Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 173 June/July 2003

Economic reform in Cuba

An important issue has been addressing the issue of inequality created by the legalisation of the dollar and the dual economy that has existed since the 1990s. Access to dollars has given some workers, for example those working in tourism, a better standard of living than others. This had the potential to divide Cuban society. The problem is being addressed by a decision taken in consultation with the trade unions to pay a bonus in dollars to workers who do not have access to dollars like those in state services such as health and education and those in industries such as oil and nickel.

Steps are also being taken to raise productivity without compromising the moral and social basis of the revolution. The recently introduced 'Perfection' system aims to increase productivity and salaries. Planning and central control will remain in state hands. The agreed state quota will remain the priority for the enterprise. There will not be competition of the type seen between capitalist enterprises but there will be a degree of decentralisation, allowing enterprises to open up new products and markets. Any surplus will go back into society. One portion will be paid to the state, another will be for local projects enabling workers to contribute to developing socialism by their involvement, for instance, in rebuilding homes, schools, hospitals, or taking part in projects for the disabled.

Socialist Cuba knows the problems and is addressing them in a creative and principled manner.

Hannah Caller

From Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 173 June/July 2003

Defend Cuban socialism!

[Revolutionaries] start out from the principle that this is a life or death struggle. If revolutionaries do not defend themselves, their cause is defeated'. Fidel Castro, 25 April 2003

The Rock around the Blockade brigade visited Cuba at a time of escalating tension in relations with the USA following the imperialist onslaught on Iraq and the Bush administration's stated aim of pre-emptive strikes at a moment's notice in any 'dark corner of the world'. For imperialism's 'dark corner', read, in this case, the shining example of socialism. In a world dominated by what Castro has characterised as the USA's 'Nazi-fascist' foreign policy, the Cuban Revolution stands in very real danger and is prepared to fight to the death for survival. US strategy is to probe Cuba. It is engaged in a new Cold War. A false move by the Cuban government could set off a process similar to that which began in September 2002 when the US started the countdown to the invasion of Iraq.

It is in this context that the arrest and gaoling in April of more than 60 Cuban 'dissidents' and the execution of three hijackers - which provoked widespread criticism in the bourgeois press - must be understood. During our stay in Cuba, we were privileged to be able to discuss these issues with two leading Cuban communists and 1ong-time friends of FRFI and Rock around the Blockade. Rogelio Polanco is editor of the youth newspaper Juventud Rebelde and a frequent participant in the nightly televised round-table discussions on important current events; Noel Carrillo is a member of the Department of International Relations of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba.

Hijackers executed

On 11 April, after a summary trial, the three Cubans who had hijacked a passenger ferry crossing Havana Bay, held knives to passengers' throats and threatened to throw them overboard, were sentenced to death and executed. There was an international outcry, from Cuba's enemies, obviously, but also from liberal supporters of Cuba. However, the Cuban communists are clear that the actions of the United States had left them with no option but to act as they did.

Let us be clear. As communists, we are opposed to the death penalty. Indeed, it is not something the Cuban Communist Party promotes, and there had been an effective moratorium on executions in the past three years, with the possibility mooted, before recent events, of removing it from the statute books altogether. Polanco stated clearly that the death penalty is not part of the philosophy of the Revolution, but rather something they had been trying to leave behind. It was not a decision undertaken lightly. Carrillo told us that Cuba respects those who oppose the death penalty but felt in the current situation it was necessary to prevent death and destruction on a far greater scale. Those who condemn Cuba, including many left parties, have ended up 'somehow playing the same music as the north Americans'.

As Fidel Castro told the millions who gathered in Havana's Revolution Square on 1 May: 'The Cuban Revolution was placed in the dilemma of either protecting the lives of millions of Cubans by using the legally established death penalty to punish the three main hijackers of a passenger ferry or sitting back and doing nothing. The US government, which incites common criminals to assault boats or aeroplanes with passengers on board, encourages these people, gravely endangering the lives of innocents and creating the ideal conditions for an attack on Cuba. A wave of hijackings had been unleashed and was already in full development; it had to be stopped.

'We cannot ever hesitate when it is a question of protecting the lives of the sons and daughters of a people determined to fight until the end, arresting the mercenaries who serve the aggressors and applying the most severe sanctions against terrorists who hijack passenger boats or planes or commit similarly serious acts, who will be punished by the courts in accordance with the laws in force.'

The US government has, as an act of aggression, drastically reduced the number of visas it issues to Cubans wishing to travel to the United States, from the agreed 20,000 a year to only 700 in the last six months. At the same time, it is actively promoting illegal emigration. Yet it has warned that any mass emigration from Cuba to the United States -as when Cuba opened its borders in 1980 and in 1994 - will be treated as a 'national security issue'.

The scarcity of visas has prompted violent and criminal elements to resort to hijacking planes and ships in an attempt to reach the United States. This problem has escalated over the last seven months with seven vessels hijacked by Cubans armed with knives, firearms and grenades. In one case, a gang even grabbed an AK-M rifle from a soldier and attempted to storm a plane. The hijackers are encouraged by the fact that when they reach the USA, rather than being returned to Cuba to face criminal charges, they are bailed and released. Cuba is clear that the USA is waiting for an incident serious enough to serve as a pretext for invasion. Since the executions, the hijackings have stopped and the point has been made - not just to would-be hijackers, but to the USA and the world: Cuba takes the defence of its people and its revolution seriously.

US promotes counter-revolution

These are dangerous times for Cuba. Polanco told us the United States' doctrine of pre-emptive action and Cuba's inclusion on their list of so-called 'rogue states' meant that the situation in Cuba is the most dangerous for many years. Indeed, while we were in Cuba, US Secretary of State Colin Powell appeared on television to announce that the island's government should be eliminated. 'We are in one of the most risky and dangerous moments not only for Cuba but for the whole of humanity,' said Carrillo. For the Cuban Communist Party, the invasion of Iraq marks the end of the post-war world order and the beginning of a new and dangerous one. It believes the economic crisis of US imperialism is now so deep it cannot wait for measures such as the Free Trade Area of the Americas to enlarge its markets and profits, but must launch wars to defend the interests of US capital. The system of international relations has broken down completely leaving the way open for such attacks. The European Union has proved too weak and divided to act as any kind of brake on US aggression. No country is now strong enough to stand in its way, leaving Cuba totally isolated apart from the international solidarity it receives.

The United States is searching for a pretext to invade the island. Propaganda used in the past - that Cuba has been involved in international drug trafficking, or possesses the technology to manufacture biological weapons - has been comprehensively discredited by the Cubans and 'put on ice', as Carrillo put it, for future use. Since the invasion of Iraq, the USA does not need proof. After all, where are those famous 'weapons of mass destruction', the pretext for war in the first place?

Instead, US strategy has been to foment dissent within the island itself. Since the arrival last September of arch-reactionary diplomat James Cason, the US Interests Section in Havana bas been used as a headquarters for Cuba's fragmented and mercenary opposition. Here counter-revolutionary propaganda as been produced and printed, subversion planned and millions of dollars handed over to 'dissidents' of one kind or another. Information provided by these sources was regularly fed through to the US administration to be used as fodder for the tightening of the Helms-Burton Act. As well as wining and dining dissidents at his home, in a brazen abuse of his diplomatic position, Cason has traveled around the island meeting with counter-revolutionaries and urging them to set aside their differences and unite around a ten-point programme. As Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque wryly pointed out, the imperialists condemn Cuba for having one political party uniting the people around socialism, but are themselves desperately attempting to create a single party of counter-revolution.

The hundreds of grouplets, ranging from the Independent Press Association of Cuba to the Independent Rafters' Association, are a key part of tried and tested US strategy, used in the former socialist countries of the Eastern bloc, to undermine revolution from within. As former CIA official Philip Agee has commented, these 'so-called independent journalists, independent libraries and civil rights activists are not, nor were they ever, independent in any sense whatsoever'. Rather, they are comp1etely in the pocket of the United States government and supplied with millions of dollars to say what they are told to say, write what they are told to write and lead comfortable and privileged lives with no need to work. From 1997 to 2002, $22 million was channelled into Cuba via the US Agency for International Development - and this was but a tiny fraction of money that finds its way into Cuba to foment counter-revolutionary activities.

All these activities were proved in court by 12 Cuban intelligence agents who had infiltrated these 'dissident' organisations. Two of them, 'Octavio' (Nestor Baguer) and 'Tania' (Odilia Collazo), had risen to become, respectively, the chairman of the Independent Press Association of Cuba and the president of the Pro-Human Rights Party of Cuba. Their testimony exposed the corrupt, bogus and mercenary character of these groups, and the degree to which they are little other than puppets of the US Interests Section.

Upon arrival in Cuba, Cason had stated that his goal was 'to speed up the process towards a democratic Cuba' and urged 'support for all those who are contributing to this transition'. By March 2003 he was holding meetings with counter-revolutionaries every other day. Cason, in Castro's words, had 'attempted to transform his headquarters and his own residence into a venue for organising, instructing and directing mercenaries who betray their homeland in the service of a foreign power, or violate other laws through acts that cause serious harm to the country, expecting total impunity'.

At the same time, in a move further designed to provoke Cuba, Cuban political prisoners, the Miami 5, were being tortured in US gaols.

The Cubans decided it was time to act - but not by expelling Cason or closing the US Interests Section, which would have allowed the US to claim Cuba was taking hostile steps against it. As Polanco said 'We are a guerrilla nation and must attack the enemy's flanks'. Instead, 65 counter revolutionaries (77 including the Cuban 'double agents') were rounded up and tried under Cuban law against receiving money or equipment from the US government for the purpose of implementing the Helms-Burton Law and sentenced to between six and 28 years in gaol. In the face of liberal furore, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque spelled it out: no-one is punished in Cuba for their ideas, but they will be punished for criminal and counter-revolutionary activity and the US must understand the consequences of its strategy: 'These trials must be understood as Cuba's behaviour when no other option remained given the path of confrontation and provocation which the US government has chosen to pursue in its relations with Cuba.'

The Cubans do not believe an invasion is inevitable, but they are armed and ready to fight. Since the 1980s, when Reagan came to power on an anti-communist crusade, they have been preparing to resist occupation with a guerrilla war of all the people. An invader would face not just the Cuban army, but the entire people armed and ready to fight to the death in defence of their Revolution.

Ed Scrivens and Cat Wiener

From Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 173 June/July 2003

Growing up in Cuba

Over 50% of Cubans are under 30. These young Cubans have rights and responsibilities far greater than we could imagine in Britain.

Cubans begin life in the most supportive of environments. Mothers get a full year of paid leave, with the guarantee of their former job when they return and this is soon to be extended to fathers as well. For the next five years most Cuban children join their local nursery, learning co-operative ways of working and living through practices such as the collective celebration of birthdays.

From 7-14, they enter the Pioneers' movement, taking part in recreational, social and educational courses at Pioneers' Palaces in everything from alternative medicine to traditional music; from how to fly a plane to baking bread -with a wealth of hands-on experience. The Pioneers have their own structures, based upon principles of solidarity and co-operation. Their mass conferences are run by the children themselves, to determine the direction of their movement. This grassroots self-organisation results in bullying being entirely alien to Cuban schools. The power bestowed upon young Cubans to influence their world in a positive way makes unnecessary such destructive assertions of self. Similarly, the selfish academic competition between individuals which puts such pressure on students in Britain is not evident in Cuba. Those having more difficulties are helped by those achieving more easily. A recent development now sees secondary school students assisting younger students, and university students assisting secondary schools students. With maximum class sizes of 20 in primary schools, and 15 in secondary schools, teachers can provide much closer assistance than in Britain.

In the community the contribution of Cuban young people to society is highly valued and encouraged. By the time they reach 14 and become eligible to join the mass organisations, they are already well versed in the practices of participatory democracy and collective working, and have a strong sense of their important place in society, and of their responsibility to build and defend the Revolution.

Tom Vickers

From Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 173 June/July 2003

Brigadistas' comments

At a nursery we saw all the children enjoying a birthday party for everyone who had had a birthday that month - a collective birthday party - a first step for children to learn solidarity.
Emre

In Cuba we saw a society that is not based on the capitalist concept of value, but one where people are valued for their abilities and the contributions they make to a better society for everyone.
Pam

'My arms are big enough to embrace all the children in this home but my heart embraces all the children of the world.' Martolo, father of the Guantanamo orphanage -ex-treedom fighter in Africa; ex-metal worker - a giant of a man in every respect.
Jim

It was overwhelming to visit a society that values people and cherishes children. The confidence and wellbeing of children and the consciousness of the people were astonishing.
Fiona

Seeing socialism in practice was an inspiration, something precious for the future of humanity; it must be defended more than ever in these times of threat.
Ed

Spending even a short time in a socialist country that has its interests firmly rooted in the people has had a profound impression on my dedication to building a revolutionary movement in Britain.
Linsay

The achievement of capitalism is to get the oppressed looking at each other through the eyes of the oppressor. But Cuba is a mirror of solidarity, intemationalism and democracy - very hopeful to the many and too dangerous for the few
JJ

From Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 173 June/July 2003

Power to the people

The people's project

Before visiting Cuba, we wanted to discover the thoughts of 'ordinary' Cubans about the revolutionary process. However, if you define ordinary as those outside the political system, then you very soon realise that very few people in Cuba fit this definition.

It is through their mass organisations that Cubans join the revolutionary process and have an effective voice. For example, 80% of Cuban women are members of the Cuban Women's Federation (FMC), working on social projects that include education of prisoners, working with troubled families and dealing with issues such as domestic violence. It was they who put proposals concerning paid maternity and paternity leave from work to the National Assembly, where they were debated before being made law. This is part of the Cuban system of popular power where the mass organisations have the right to make legislative initiatives.

At all ages Cubans can be a member of a dedicated organisation. From 7 -14 there is the Pioneers. The UJC organises people under 30 and has a membership of one in three of the age range. It works closely with the Mid-Level Students' Federation (FEEM), for students aged 14-19, and the Federation of University Students (FEU). There are other mass organisations for every group in society, such as farmers, artists and writers and, of course, trade unions for all workers. If we add to these the Committees for Defence of the Revolution {CDR); of which 99% of the, population (from 14 years on) are members, we can see that almost every person in Cuba has important roles to play in the organisation of society.

Such mass participation is in direct contrast to life in Britain, where less, than 40% of inhabitants bothered to take part in the recent elections. Cuba offers an insight into the way forward to a society that is run by and for its people. For those on the right, who refuse to accept that socialism can work, Cuba stands in defiance. For those on the left who are unable to picture socialism as a living process the message is clear, visit Cuba and see for yourself. We did.

Mark Suibhne

CDRs - at the heart of the revolution

We visited a Committee for the Defence of the Revolution (CDR) in the city of Guantanamo as well as a rural CDR Within the Imias municipality.

The CDRs are central to the functioning of all Cuban society. The vast majority of Cubans over the age of 14 choose to participate in them, but membership is not compulsory. The few who don't join are still entitled to benefit from everything the CDRs do. They organise everything within communities from street parties to regular blood donations; the care of disabled people to the integration of prisoners back into society; looking after the local environment to being on call for night-time emergencies. It was evident when we met with the people from both these neighbourhoods that it was the incredible unity that binds these communities together that gives the Cuban revolution its strength.

The Cubans are famous for saying that they have no gold and they have little oil, their most valuable resource is their people. Perhaps the most important organisations within Cuban society, the CDRs ensure that no family is left alone and isolated. They are united within the revolution, assisting each other to achieve the best possible for their neighbourhood, their country and their revolution.

Linsay Powell

From Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 173 June/July 2003

Desde el corazon

La Brigada 'Batalla de Ideas' quiere agradecer sinceramente desde estas lineas el trabajo organizativo y el calor humano del Departamento de Relaciones Internacionales de la UJC y el buro politico y ideologico de la UJC en Guantanamo. De su mano hemos aprendido el poder de las organizaciones populares y de masas en Cuba, la fuerza revolucionaria de la educacion en libertad y la solidaridad verdadera con los oprimidos del mundo.

Porque vuestra inspiracion es nuestra lucha y la Revolucion no conoce fronteras, juntos compañeros cubanos hasta la victoria siempre!

From Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 173 June/July 2003